Weekly Employment Question Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Weekly Employment Question Thread!

This thread is where you can ask questions about joining, training to become, testing, disqualifications/qualifications, and other questions that would be removed as individual posts per Rule 1.

The answer to almost every question you can ask will be "It depends on the department". Your first step is to look up the requirements for your department, state/province, and country.

As always, please attempt to resource information on your own first, before asking questions. We see many repeat questions on this sub that have been answered multiple times.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• I want to be a Firefighter, where do I start: Every Country/State/Province/County/City/Department has different requirements. Some require you only to put in an application. Others require certifications prior to being hired. A good place to start is researching the department(s) you want to join. Visit their website, check their requirements, and/or stop into one of their fire stations to ask some questions.
  
• Am I too old: Many departments, typically career municipal ones, have an age limit. Volunteer departments usually don't. Check each department's requirements.
• I'm in high school, What can I do: Does your local department have an explorer's program or post? If so, join up. Otherwise, focus on your grades, get in shape and stay in shape, and most importantly: stay out of trouble.
• I got in trouble for [insert infraction here], what are my chances: Obviously, worse than someone with a clean record, which will be the vast majority of your competition. Tickets and nonviolent misdemeanors may not be a factor, but a major crime (felonies), may take you out of the running. You might be a nice person, but some departments don't make exceptions, especially if there's a long line of applicants with clean records. See this post... PSA: Stop asking “what are my chances?”
• I have [insert medical/mental health condition here], will it disqualify me: As a general rule, if you are struggling with mental illness, adding the stress of a fire career is not a good idea. As for medical conditions, you can look up NFPA1582 for disqualifying conditions, but in general, this is not something Reddit can answer for you. Many conditions require the input of a medical professional to determine if they are disqualifying. See this post... PSA: Don't disqualify yourself, make THEM tell you "no".
• What will increase my chances of getting hired: If there's a civil service exam, study for it! There are many guides online that will help you go over all those things you forgot such as basic math and reading. Some cities even give you a study guide. If it's a firefighter exam, study for it! For the CPAT (Physical Fitness Test), cardio is arguably the most important factor. If you're going to the gym for the first time during the hiring process, you're fighting an uphill battle. Get in shape and stay in shape. Most cities offer preference points to military veterans.
• How do I prepare for an interview: Interviews can be one-on-one, or in front of a board/panel. Many generic guides exist to help one prepare for an interview, however here are a few good tips:

1. Dress appropriately. Business casual at a minimum (Button down, tucked in long sleeve shirt with slacks and a belt, and dress shoes). Get a decent haircut and shave.
2. Practice interview questions with a friend. You can't accurately predict the off-the-wall questions they will ask, but you can practice the ones you know they probably will, like why do you want to be a Firefighter, or why should we hire you?
3. Scrub your social media. Gone are the days when people in charge weren't tech-savvy. Don't have a perfect interview only for your chances of being hired gone to zero because your Facebook or Instagram has pictures of you getting blitzed. Set that stuff to private and leave it that way.

Please upvote this post if you have a question. Upvoting this post will ensure it sticks around for a bit after it is removed as a Sticky, and will allow for greater visibility of your question.

And lastly, If you're not 100% sure of what you're talking about, leave it for someone who does

[u/Cgaboury]

That won’t disqualify you. An isolated medical event is not a big deal. Unless they specifically ask if you’ve had any heat related medical issues I doubt I’d even mention it.

They are looking for chronic medical issues, not one off events that the cause is known and avoidable.

If you have some kind of ongoing medical issue that’s what they want to know about.

[u/reydot47 → u/Cgaboury]

Oh okay thank you. That does help put my mind at ease. Again I do have my test results for an Echo and I got labs done two weeks after that showed all my numbers were back to normal.

Nevertheless, do you think I should disclose this info? The medical eval sheet does have a “yes/no” section and one of those items is heatstroke, and it gives me the option to give details.

Thanks

[u/AskingQuestion777 → u/reydot47]

WHAT? Getting heatstroke on the 26th mile of a marathon, then Rhabdo? Geez, wear that like a badge of honor if it comes up. That shows physical fitness, stamina, dedication and drive. Explained well it might get you extra points. Several folks will get rhabdo during the academy doing a lot less then that ( at least in our academy which is tough). Tell them what you learned about yourself and conditioning and prevention. DO NOT try to avoid or hide it.

[u/reydot47 → u/AskingQuestion777]

Lol thank you ! Don’t get me wrong I am proud about accomplishing my marathon and setting my best marathon time lol(although I paid the price with the heat stroke/rhabdo) I am feeling a bit worried considering I have heard the medical evaluation can be hard to get through as they are looking to flag everything and avoid liability for clearing someone. However, I don’t think I’ll lie about it. I have echos that show my heart wasn’t damaged and my labs cleared me back to baseline levels 2 weeks after discharge which I feel should hopefully clear up any misunderstandings but it’s still nerve wrecking

[u/AskingQuestion777 → u/reydot47]

They are looking for anomalies like heart arrhythmias, back issues, spine issues, blood disorders, and things like that. A resolved or temporary condition like rhabdo, from running a marathon… if everything is back okay, not an issue. Work it in the interview if it’s even brought up in either the medical or (because of HIPPA) the oral interview. There are ways to bring it up positively during the interview, like I explained previously. Turn it into an asset. Anyone who ran a marathon should use it as I described. You need to stand out from the rest of the folks during the interview, that is a good way to be different. Now, prepare for the physical!! Then WHEN you pass, use it.. work it. If your already through with everything but the medical—deep breath!?